We used to have fun commenting about the bond market, including Treasuries, Mortgages, Municipals, and Corporates. But that was before the dark times. Before deleveraging.
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Tuesday, December 16, 2008

The agency-backed mortgage sure is tempting. Fannie Mae 30-year 6% mortgage-backed securities are currently yielding in the 4.40% area with just a 2-year average life, based on Bloomberg figures. That looks pretty good compared with 2-year Treasuries at around 0.66% and 2-year Fannie Mae bullet debt at around 1.50%. Now that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are owned by the government, one should view these credits as all the same. Why not take that extra yield?

But beware, there is likely to be a massive difference in MBS performance over the next year, as the government works hard to push mortgage borrowing rates lower. When a borrower repays his/her mortgage in part or in full, that repayment is passed through to the investor at $100. With almost all agency-backed MBS priced at $102 or above, investors will be taking a loss on every loan refinanced. Thus gauging the potential refinancibility of your mortgage-backed security as well as predicting the direction of government policy will be the key. This is especially true of those holding agency CMOs, which remains a popular product among individual and bank investors.

First question is, how low can mortgage rates go? According to Bankrate.com, the national average mortgage rate is now 5.57%, with GSE conforming mortgages probably available in the 5.25% area this week based on forward commitment rates. Rates could easily fall much further. The long-term average spread between the 10-year Treasury and mortgage rates is 152bps, the current spread is 300bps. Given that the Fed has pledged to buy $500 billion in agency MBS in 2009 (equal to half of 2008's total issuance), there is every reason to believe the spread between Treasury and mortgage borrowing rates will fall, at least for GSE conforming borrowers.

Currently about 80% of the fixed-rate agency MBS universe has a rate of 6% or above. Under normal circumstances, we'd expect most of those borrowers to refinance. However, conventional wisdom says the combination of declining borrower equity and strict lending standards are likely to mute refinancings.

Yet despite the national average home price declines, most borrowers within the agency universe probably still have strong equity. The FHFA's Home Price Index (formerly OFHEO) has only declined by 4% year-over-year. In terms of general economics, the Case-Shiller index probably better represents the housing picture. But remember that the FHFA index is calculated by looking at homes with GSE mortgages, so its exactly the relevant index for agency MBS investors.

All this leads to a highly divergent degree of refinancability among agency MBS pools. If you have a pool originated in 2007 with 90% loan-to-value (i.e., 10% equity) those borrowers will struggle to refinance in today's tight credit environment. A pool where the original loan-to-value was 75% and which was originated in 2005 might be highly refinancable should rates continue to fall.

Geographics will also be crucial. Only 21 states have actually experienced price declines according to FHFA, with some very large states suffering outsized declines. A pool with mostly Midwest or Southeastern exposure would not have many underwater mortgages, whereas a pool concentrated in the Southwest would. The former will repay much quicker than the later.

Mortgage prepayment speeds are especially dangerous for investors in collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs). A CMO structure is dependent on prepayment speeds occurring within some range. But what we are likely to see is some pools pay extremely fast while others pay extremely slow. This kind of bifurcation could easily bust CMO structures and leave investors with cashflows wildly different from what was expected.

The big wild card is government policy. There is talk that Treasury might allow for no-appraisal refinancing, basically lending based on original loan-to-value as opposed to current loan-to-value. Debate the wisdom of this policy as you might, it would case a massive refinancing wave that would make 2003 look like a a splash in the kiddie pool.

Are mortgages worth owning? Sure, but beware of the risks. Investors who need more certain cash flows should look elsewhere. Investors focused on income and who are willing to dig into the specifics of a mortgage pool can find great rewards.

Any mortgage structure trading at a discount is a good candidate to purchase. Long duration Z CMO's are currently trading at levels between 85-90. Buying those will get a nice pickup as speeds crank up. Similarly, strip and support floaters still trading at decent levels below par are a good buy. basically, anything with a PO structure will do extremely well. I would also say that low loan balance and highly seasoned collateral (burned out) would be advantageous to purchase. If someone failed to refi in 2003 when they had the chance, chances are they may fail to refi as well in this environment....

Don't forget that those with less than 10% equity in their homes (or perhaps closer to 20 as I hear PMI is getting difficult to obtain) will have a much harder time refinancing. The market being what it is, there will probably be less refinancing than one would expect just given the interest rate environment.

This reminds me of auto dealers rolling over old debt into the new contract,hasn't saved the auto industry.High LTV,owner occupied and low credit scores will be the limiting factors as those with mortgages did considerable refi activity all accross the country. Bubble states just have further to decline but fly over refi and equity line ATM was very popular. In Calif the problem today is housing >500K having low sales velocity that does not cover basic death,divorce and job change. The move up buyer has been reduced or eliminated in many markets and the higher tier properties that have benefited from a combination of employee options,high bonus and credit liquidity find few buyers availability that have the financial wealth to take on jumbo sized mortgages. The high end traditional neighborhoods have some movement but much of the new trendy area's that have seen knock downs and large rehab activity are particuliarly hard hit.This does not solve the inventory issue as higher income households used their leverage to acquire 2nd and 3rd homes as rentals, vacation property. Job loss, stock market decline along with slimmer bonus and stock options will cause this group to unload more properties onto both the current forsale inventory and the large shadow inventory that has been building for some time.

After I read this post I started thinking about the effect on insurance companies. Image all the ones that invest in Lower LTV pass through's? pending what the gov. does you could see a blowback of certain insurance companies getting burned due to prepayments... I do not near the knowledge of bond markets you guys do, am I making any sense?

I would also say that low loan balance and highly seasoned collateral (burned out) would be advantageous to purchase. If someone failed to refinance in 2003 when they had the chance, chances are they may fail to refinance as well in this environment. I was actually looking for these information for quite a long time and i believe i have landed at the right page. I really liked your ways of expressing thoughts. You write too well. Moreover your article contains some worthy information which i guess will help lot of people. Thanks once again. Keep up the good work. God bless you.co

About Me

I oversee taxable bond trading for a small investment management firm. Opinions expressed on this website may not reflect the opinions of my employers. Strategies described here should not be taken as advice, and may not be the strategies being used for my clients. Take this website as the egotistical ramblings of a bond geek and nothing more. E-mail is accruedint *at* gmail.com or find on Facebook.